Nephites

The Nephites were, according to Mormonism, a Native American people descended from Nephi, who traveled with his family to the "promised land" of the Americas in 589 BC. The Nephites settled in Central America after leaving Jerusalem, and there were several kings named Nephi. In 91 BC, their king, Mosiah II, declared that he would not name a new king, and that, after his death, the Nephites would elect judges to rule over them. From 30 to 33 AD, the judges were overthrown by an aristocratic cadre led by a man named Jacob, and it was replaced by a series of tribes and kinships which lasted until Jesus appeared in the Americas and established a new society. The Nephites were ruled by chief judges from Jesus' appearance until 385 AD, when they were destroyed by the Lamanites.